There is no leadership without vision. Vision is what gives purpose to all effort and activities. A leader without vision is a captain who takes people on a road trip without a destination and map to it.
Clear vision inspires action. Not keeping vision in clear sight creates a toxic team and organizational environment. Keeping vision in front is necessary for keeping the main thing the main thing.
Leaders are dreamers. They are dreamers for the organization and subsequent change the organizations’ activities bring to the world at large.
Leaders have to bridge dreams for their organizations and the world with the action that makes them happen. They cannot and must not stay in dream mode but also move into action mode.
They must also be careful not to get stuck in action mode but remember that they constantly need to dream.
In order to dream, they need to create space for what Bill Hybels calls “Blue-sky days”. They are days where they just dream. Where they just imagine and dream for their organization and the value their organization adds to the lives of those they serve.
every leader must make sure they never let the pragmatic leader in them cloud their blue-sky days
Blue-sky days are moments of dreaming without any limitations. Imagining possibilities without getting hung up on how to make them happen.
In dreaming leaders must fight the temptation to cross over to their action mode. When you switch to action mode, that is, already try to figure out what it would take to make some dreams happen while you drew, you cripple your capacity for dreaming.
Already trying to figure out how you’re going to make something happen while you’re dreaming smothers possibility of what could be.
Do not kill your dreams before they’ve even had a chance to live by trying to figure out everything in the dreaming stage. Consider the dreaming stage as the womb of dreams. See it as the cradle of vision.
Plans and goals and how you are going to make vision happen is only secondary. Starting a new enterprise? Do you need to bring about new life into your organization?
Call your team together and have blue-sky day. Imagine the possibilities. Dream about what you could make happen. Do not entertain the pragmatic leader in you.
Give space for your dreams to come out. When dreams for your organization and those you are save are powerful enough, you will find a way to make it happen.
Make provision for blue-sky days. Let them be, so that you better serve your organization and its stakeholders. Blue-sky days are also incubators of innovation. Let the blue skies be.